Articles about CES 2015

Every year in Las Vegas, the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) is the ultimate place to see what’s new in technology. CES showcases new innovative and next generation technologies -- It’s a global platform for innovation where cutting edge technologies are revealed to the world. And this year’s show didn’t disappoint. Smart homes, ever advanced wearable devices, wireless home entertainment systems and even personally owned drones all had top billing at the show.

However, whilst the gadget geeks there were clearly bursting with excitement, the network administrators/IT Professionals/IT Managers I’ve spoken to seem to be scared witless as reality dawns on the practicalities of all of this. Issues such as bandwidth hogging, security vulnerabilities and the headache of ensuring compliance were the main areas of concern voiced to me at the show. Here follows the six technologies emerging from CES with the most potential to disrupt the business and network:

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Technology’s yearly trip to Sin City has been and gone in a heartbeat with gadgets and gizmos packing the halls of the Las Vegas Convention Centre as far as the eye can see. As soon as delegates landed they were inundated with power outlets that reminded everyone, yes, you’re in the center of the technology universe for the next few days and you can bet we won’t let you forget that!

That wasn’t the only thing that made CES 2015 the best one yet, and here are five of the top takeaways:

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A few months ago BlackBerry announced the Passport, and the keyword was square. A square screen in a decidedly square body, not to forget the physical keyboard, was a sure-fire way to stand out from the crowd; it's hip to be square after all. But for AT&T, the Passport was just a bit too square.

In fact such was the carrier's dislike of the squareness of the Passport that it asked BlackBerry to redesign the handset. And BlackBerry obliged, producing an AT&T exclusive version of the Passport complete with rounded corners that is more in keeping with the look of the BlackBerry Classic, it was revealed at CES 2015 today.

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Chip maker Intel is using the 2015 CES to announce its plans for moving into the wearable technology sector.

These include the Curie, a button-sized hardware module, and a collaboration with sports sunglasses brand Oakley.

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Sony has announced a couple of new products over at CES which are exploring new concepts in wearables -- though it hasn’t got a huge deal to say about them at this stage.

Specifically, Sony has been talking about its SmartEyeglass Attach, a new concept that further builds on the prototype SmartEyeglass Developer Edition. The Attach is basically a single lens display which can be attached to a normal pair of glasses to provide a small heads-up display for the user, which will work with various sport apps (a number of apps are underway).

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It's been a common joke in the technology industry for many years that the wonderful thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from.

But whilst it may be a joke, in the past conflicting standards have led to very real issues when it comes to getting systems to work together. In the modern era when we increasingly expect things to 'just work' compatibility issues are becoming less acceptable.

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2014 was a big year for Roku, with the debut of the streaming stick as well as Roku TVs. But 2015 promises to be even bigger, with announcements coming out of the Consumer Electronics Show taking place in Las Vegas this week. The set-top box maker has a lot to talk about for the new year.

To start out, Roku claims TCL will release a whopping 12 new models of TVs featuring the software. All will be coming in the first half of this year. The new lineup will come with varying hardware configurations that promise different designs.

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At the 2015 International Consumer Electronics Show, Lenovo celebrated shipping 100 million units of the ThinkPad, and updated its portfolio for 2015, which includes the third generation X1 Carbon.

The Chinese tech giant also introduced ThinkVision X24, a 7.5mm thin IPS 23.8 inch monitor with DisplayPort and HDMI connectivity, and ThinkPad Stack, a power bank that offers mix and match interlocking accessories.

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Video cards can serve many needs, so it is natural that they come in varying prices and features. Some people just need a basic card because their motherboard does not have integrated video. Others want a mid-range card for casual gaming or watching HD video. There is still yet another subset of consumers that are hardcore gamers and want the most powerful card -- money is no object. For these people, it is important to pay close attention to information from both NVIDIA and AMD so they can be on the forefront of the latest gaming hardware.

Today, gamers had better take notice, as NVIDIA will be making some announcements at 8PM pacific (that's 11PM for my fellow East Coasters). Even though CES has not officially started, NVIDIA is already in Las Vegas and is calling this its "CES Press Event". The big question is, what will the company announce? Mid-range buyers (such as myself) are hopeful for an official GeForce GTX 960 release date, but I am sure we will hear much more than that. Don't forget, the company is more than just video cards; could we see a Tegra announcement? A new Shield device? Be sure to watch the live stream below and find out!

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Just when you thought hard drive technology had reached its limits we started getting even more technology and almost ridiculously large capacities. Now Seagate, a well-known name in the industry, is taking things a step further with its pre-CES announcements. It's one of many companies that try to beat the rush of news that takes place during the Las Vegas show.

First up is a new drive that comes with Seagate's Personal Cloud system. The one drive and two bay systems allow the user to store content in the ether. This provides easy access from mobile devices and is handy when you are away from home. This is essentially a NAS device and it does automatic backups of all of the computers on your home network. A dashboard makes it easy to control from both Windows and Mac. No mention of pricing or availability is made.

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The future is here! We are actually living in the future. The futuristic sci-fi imaginings of the 1960's are not only a reality, they have been bettered, exceeded and trumped. At least that's what we're led to believe. The reality is rather different.

A lot of excitement has been pinned on the Internet of Things -- little more than connected, communicating devices -- but Qualcomm is taking things even further. In a video released ahead of CES 2015, the chipmaker waxes lyrical about not the Internet of Things we're supposed to know and love, but the Internet of Everything. And it's here. Apparently.

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When it comes time to buy your next smartphone, will you be swayed by hardware or operating system? Forget iOS for a moment; put Apple's mobile OS out of your mind for right now. Hardware to a large extent determines price, and an upcoming range of budget phones from Alcatel offers an interesting choice.

The Pixi 3 -- that rainbow-colored delight you see above assaulting your eyeballs -- comes with a choice of four screen sizes, and three OS choices. The smallest measures just 3.5 inches, but 4, 4.5 and 5 inch models are also available. But the interesting thing is that each is available with a choice of Android, Windows Phone or, erm, Firefox OS installed.

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It had a bit of a rocky start, but Microsoft's Surface devices have ended up more popular than more people would have imagined. But if there's one complaint that crops up time and time again, it's that the tablet cum laptop is a little on the expensive side -- a Surface Pro 3 could set you back up to $1,949.00 (512GB / Intel Core i7 model).

If you feel priced out of the market, E FUN (nope, us neither) has a trio of cheap alternatives that might suit your pocket. Ranging from $229 to $279, the Nextbook devices include a removable magnetic keyboard and boast touchscreens, and details have been announced ahead of CES 2015.

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